Author's Note: Sorry for having taken such a long, sudden hiatus. But, now I'm back on track and determined to get this story going again. Please review and tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: No tengo nada. This story is not my property, it all belongs to someone else.

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Megumi carefully washed her hands with a strong soap, removing all traces of blood and gore from the delicate skin. Looking over her shoulder at her patient, she wondered what could have caused such massive wounds that resembled those of dog bites, but far larger and deeper than they should have been. It was doubtful that the young man would live until sunset, he lost too much blood and his liver and kidneys had been torn along with the muscles and tendons from his leg wound. She dried her hands with the hand towel that lay beside the basin of water that now was pink rather than clear.

Strange attacks had been reported in the last few months. The man lying on the futon behind her was the only survivor of one of these seemingly random assualts. The police never would get any questions answered by this man, he would stay unconcious until death, probably. The massive loss of blood made certain that even if he did regain conciousness, he would not be lucid enough to tell of what he saw. Megumi felt angered at whatever had taken the young man's life. He had had so much before him, but that future would never be. The police were baffled by the attacks, not knowing what the perpetrator of the attacks were. They hypothesized that it was a large dog, but no one knew of any dog large enough to cause such huge wounds as displayed on all the victims. The youthful doctor hoped that answers and a solution would soon present itself, because she did not think she could handle many more of these cases. They drained her like none others, for all the attacks had been on young, healthy people that otherwise never would have seen her in years.

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"Fujita-san, hajimemashita," Kenshin greeted the tall policeman with a small smile. The differences they had had over the past years had mellowed after the Shishio Makoto, though there would always be slight antagonism between them. A semi-friendly rivalry, some might call it.

"Hajimemashita, Himura-san," replied Saitoh with a slight bow. Looking down at the small figure clutching his father's hakama,he saw the child possessed the eyes of his father and slightly darker, but still vibrant red hair as well. "I did not know you had a child."

"His name is Kenji," the diminutive swordsman stated proudly.

"He looks very much like you."

"Would you like to come in?" Kenshin led Saitoh to the dining room where the others were sitting and chatting, excepting Hiko who had disappeared for the moment. Introductions were made and surprisingly enough, no rude comments were exchanged between Sanosuke and Saitoh. The wolfish policeman merely politely inquired how the tori-atama had been doing, to which Sanosuke replied back that he just returned from China with his friends and planned to stay awhile.

"That is good," Saitoh said, "because I could use you and your friends' help as well as Himura-san's."

This small statement caught everyone's attention. Last time Saitoh required Kenshin's help, the fate of government of Japan hung in the balance. "What is it, Fujita-san? Why do you need my husband's help?" Kaoru asked softly. She hated that her precious love kept being dragged into dangerous circumstances. Everything had been quiet after Kenji was born, no one came to bother their new family, but it looked like that time of peace was about to be broken.

"There have been a strange series of murders all over the country in the past seven months," explained Saitoh. "The method of murder changes from place to place, and the amount of people involved in each place is small, but the manner of their deaths..." He paused for a moment, searching for the right words. "They are all so brutal, beyond what is normal. Some die from gaping wounds caused by bites of some animal, some dog-like in origin, but so huge it could not possibly be any type of dog. Others have died by being sliced open and having vital organs removed, especially the heart and liver, but the wounds were caused by some sort of immense set of claws, and we know this because part of one was left behind at the site."

"And how could Kenshin help?" Kaoru demanded before anyone else could ask a question. "This doesn't sound like something he should have to deal with."

Turning golden eyes back to the small woman, Saitoh answered, "Because he has the power to help. None of the policemen of this age have the experiences required to combat the bakemono responsible for these attacks."

"Bakemono?" Kenshin asked, "You mean, evil spirits?" The small man sounded stunned that Saitoh seriously considered legends to be true.

"Yes, I mean evil spirits. I met and killed one last night here in Tokyo, an oni that had been killing lone patrolers as of late." The tall man left no room for arguement that this happened. His manner showed he was not joking in the least, or insane, it happened as surely as the events concerning Shishio happened.

"Do you think an ookami yokai caused the dog-like bite wounds?" Bai Ru interjected into the conversation. It was a challenge to Saitoh, and both knew it. The policeman could smell that Bai Ru and his companions were not human, even Sanosuke was not completely human.

"I doubt it. They would have a more discrete way of killing their prey," Saitoh replied, with a warning in that sentence as well as the facts for the rakshasa. "More likely, it was an rabid inu yokai or another oni."

Kaoru and Kenshin stayed silent all the while, eyes flickering back and forth between Saitoh and Bai Ru and his friends. There was a sublimal message in their dialogue, and Kaoru finally discovered what it was. "You're...yokai?" she asked timidly, unsure what answer she would get.

Saitoh settled for nodding, while Bai Ru simply stated, "Yes," before going on to elaborate. "Well, not specifically yokai, but rather rakshasa, or shapeshifter if you will. Sanosuke is part rakshasa. And I believe our new aquaintence here is an ookami-yokai."

Hiko watched the happenings thoughtfully. This fateful encounter would make his revalation to Kenshin easier, that was for certain.

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Author's Notes: This chapter feels kinda awkward to me, so I'm going to revise it with the others sooner or later, but for now, this is what you get. Move the plot along! Don't look back (yet)! Stride straight into the future with bright eyes and mind! Thank you to those that so kindly reviewed my last chapter, I appreciate it. I'll post replies to their reviews in my profile. Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy whatever nice weather you may be having. Play soccer or frisbee, it's fun and good for you (though don't follow my example and nearly break someone's leg by defending the goal...:P).

Dictionary

hajimeru - to begin

hajimemashita - "It has been a long time" A ritual greeting when one hasn't seen someone in an extended period of time.

-san - an honorific roughly meaning "Mr" or "Mrs".